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by Sandalphon on June 19th, 2006

Sandalphon

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How do portable air conditioners work (the type that can go in the middle of a room, not window air conditioners)? They seem to violate the laws of physics.

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  • by jalex137 on June 20th, 2006

    jalex137

    There are evaporative coolers that lower air tempeature by evaporating water. It seems that those would have a point of diminishing returns, when the relative humidity in the room makes it feel muggy.

    There are also portable A/C units that work like conventional ones but do not mount in a window. They still need a place to exhaust hot air, and usually do it by means of a flexible duct--like a dryer duct--that is passed through a window or other opening. Funny, the catalog pictures rarely show this cumbersome, unsightly appendage. Without this exhaust, it simply becomes a dehumidifier, and some of them even sell that as a feature--"dehumidification mode". Dehumidification mode or not, it will also be necessary occasionally to empty a condensate bucket which will collect the water which simply drips to the ground in a window unit.

    And if I sound negative, I don't mean to imply that there are not situations for which these devices are the best solutions; I'm just saying the folks selling them often forget to point out the compromises involved.

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